1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method of document management and issue management with a hierarchical set of process steps, which is used to execute and coordinate a collaborative process involving cross-functional organizational units across an enterprise.
2. Description of the Related Art
Over the last twenty years software has played an increasing role in automating routine business activities such as storing and cataloging information, providing summarizations and reports, tracking digital and physical assets, and securing access to sensitive or compartmentalized information. The category of software that addresses such activities is defined as content management. At the same time, software has also aided businesses in organizing processes such as product development projects, supply chain procurement, and call tracking systems. The category of software that addresses these activities is defined as process management.
More recently, a partial blurring of these two categories has provided companies with the ability to add workflow (a simplified form of process) to content management activities. This has allowed companies to automate a number of collaborative activities such as routing documents for editing and approval, documenting and resolving product defects, and preparing and approving consolidated financial budgets. However, in each such case, process (in this case, workflow) has been added to the content (e.g., documents, defects, budgets). Rarely, if ever, is process itself—especially in the form of a hierarchical set of tasks—the container for content.
There are a number of useful applications demanding tighter integration of process and content. Such applications are typically very collaborative in nature and are often very dynamic, where the process may change and adapt with learnings along the way. Examples of such applications include mergers and acquisitions and one-time, cross-functional initiatives such as ISO-9000 compliance and six-sigma quality certifications. For instance, in a large merger integration planning exercises often result in information that affects the structure of the activities involved in the integration execution phase. In effect, the first phase of the process is to define the second phase of the process.
Documents and information are collected during each step of the process and need to be stored in the context of the process step so they may be easily found later. At the same time, issues are identified that need to be resolved and tracked as a separate workflow process within the overall process. Relevant documents need to be associated with these issues, so a storage context needs to also be available within issues.
Furthermore, in such complex processes, content, issues, and tasks (process steps) are often interrelated, so a flexible model is required that allows cross-context relationships to be captured. For example, a document uncovered during a task may result in an issue, which is resolved through a series of new tasks that must be performed. The interrelationships between the original task, the document, resulting issue, and resolution tasks must be captured and tracked as a part of the process.
Complex processes also tend to involve large numbers of cross-functional participants, where authority and ownership are diffused across an organization. This often results in the need for compartmentalization of information—especially when sensitive or confidential information is involved. In a merger, for example, payroll inconsistencies in an acquired company can lead to challenging issues for a Human Resources department, but they become even more disruptive if surfaced to an extended integration team involving other departments. As a result, applications that provide storage of content within a process must provide an integrated security scheme that recognizes roles and organizational hierarchies. Permissions also need to be dynamic to allow lockdown of content automatically as process steps are completed.
The difficulty in blending process and content is that they are both typically hierarchical in nature, and the relationships between the components in each hierarchy can be complex. Process involves tasks, tasks involve subtasks, subtasks involve even finer-level subtasks, and so on. At the same time, documents are grouped into folders, which are in turn grouped into high-level folders. In addition, the hierarchy of organizational units and involvement of cross-functional teams adds yet a third dimension that must be factored into a unifying model. The technical integration of these hierarchies is quite complex. Moreover, the challenge is to integrate the hierarchies in a manner that is intuitive to users of such a system and process.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and method that offers a unified model of process and content, that is intuitive to users, and that conforms to the hierarchical structure and information needs of an organization.